PANEER PARATHA RECIPE ~ Indian Cottage Cheese Paratha

PANEER PARATHA RECIPE / HOW TO MAKE PANEER PARATHA? / PANEER RECIPES / BREAKFAST RECIPES / PUNJABI STYLE PARATHA RECIPE / PUNJABI RECIPES/ NORTH INDIAN PARATHA / FLAT BREAD / SPANEER STUFFED FLAT BREAD / RESTAURANT STYLE PANEER PARATHA RECIPE / KIDS RECIPE / LUNCH BOX RECIPES / SCHOOL LUNCH BOX RECIPES / EASY PARATHA RECIPES / CHEESE PARATHA RECIPE / STEP BY STEP PARATHA RECIPE / COTTAGE CHEESE PARATHA RECIPE 

Parathas are quite filling and versatile, can be enjoyed anytime of the day.  Paneer Paratha is a North Indian flat bread stuffed with crumbled Indian cottage cheese and spices, usually served for breakfast with plain yogurt and pickle. Its one of my favorite to carry for lunch box..  any left over dal or curry goes into as stuffing,  but for a dhaba style brunch or dinner i usually stick to grated paneer to make it special.  Try, you will love it!

This post is little special – it goes to #Meet the blogger series run by this friendly Facebook food group “Favorite Recipes, crafts, Garden and daily life“, do join and have fun!

To make the dough – Combine wheat flour, salt, ghee or oil and mix. Slowly add water little by little and make a soft pliable dough. The dough should be soft and firm and non sticky.  Cover the dough the keep it aside to rest while you work on the stuffing. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes, covered with a cloth or plate.

To make the stuffing – Grate paneer  and combine that with red chili powder, cumin powder, garam masala powder, chopped green chili, coriander leaves and salt. Mix well to combine.

To make the paratha– Knead the resting dough and divide into 8 equal portions. Divide the crumbled paneer mixture into 8 equal portions and roll them into small balls and keep aside. Roll out each dough like small pooris and place one paneer ball in the center, gather the dough around it as shown in the picture – seal, flatten the dough with your hands and press. Dust some flour and roll it out gently with the stuffing. Heat tawa and place the paratha and cook for few seconds. Then flip and drizzle oil or ghee and cook the paratha until its evenly browned on both sides. Repeat the same for the rest of the dough balls. Serve hot with plain yogurt or pickle.

Notes

• The above measure makes about 8 parathas.
• You can make this with freshly made paneer but make sure to drain all the water in the paneer. If using frozen paneer, thaw first place under a paper towel to drain excess water.
• Dough should be very soft and firm to get soft parathas.
• Roll the parathas thick to avoid the stuffing coming out while rolling.  Thin parathas will turn hard after sometime.
• Cook parathas over medium high flame and cook in the out evenly.
• You may add spice mixture to the stuffing – instead of cumin powder you can add ajwain or dry mango powder.
• Adjust the spice level according to your taste, you may either stick to plain red chili powder  or just use green chilies. I’ve used little bit of both.
• You can use maida for dusting and rolling the paratha as it does not brown while frying the parathas. If using wheat flour for dusting then wipe with a cloth after making each paratha.
• For every cup of Wheat flour its about 1/2 cup water measure with 1 teaspoon oil. So for 2 cups wheat flour it takes about 1 cup plus some extra tablespoons. I’ve used less oil for this recipe, as this is a stuffed paratha which tends become soft naturally after some time. You can add up to 2 teaspoons oi or ghee if you wish.